Shanghai Evening Huangpu River Cruise- China

Late afternoon view of Lujiazui area with the Pearl

Since we were only in Shanghai for 30 hours or so, we opted for activities that would give us an overall impression of downtown Shanghai. Since Landon loves boats, we decided to go for a little river cruise down the Huangpu river, which runs through downtown Shanghai and divides the Bund and Nanjing Rd from the Oriental Pearl tower, Lujiazui and Pudong- our hotel area. Tickets were 160 rmb for adults, and Landon was free. We opted to go with the Shanghai Huangpu River Cruise company- they operate many of the river cruises from the southern end of the Bund. Since it was a busy Saturday afternoon, there were cruises leaving every 15 minutes and we had no problem getting tickets. After hiking all the way down the Bund river walk, I discovered that there are ticket booths for this river cruise company all along the river! We aimed for 7:00 pm- late enough that the buildings would be lit up, but early enough for Landon to be awake and get something out of it.  

We were advised to be at Pier 481 fifteen minutes before our scheduled cruise. When we got there, it was just a doorway with 481 over it, and we went into an underground waiting area. We stood in a line, and were allowed on board a few minutes before the boat departed. Landon met a special friend in line, and his new friend held his hand all the way from the line area to the boat. It was a long way and I only caught it on camera right on the end. Immediately upon getting on the boat, they broke up to explore different areas and never found each other again. 

Lujiazui/Pudong area with our pointy hotel building in the background

Our cruise had announcements in Chinese every so often; I'm not sure if they were explanatory or safety related. We just enjoyed our time admiring the lights along the river of downtown Shanghai. We even saw our hotel building from the river. Some of the buildings had moving pictures or ads on them! They really go all out in lighting the buildings here! The Bund was especially beautiful. It was like a mini Europe with all different styles of architecture, but lit up in a very stately way. This area was where the foreign traders lived and worked in Shanghai so the buildings have more of a European flair. 

The Bund

The Oriental Pearl

Looking at the lights!

Night cruise fun!

Part of the fun of cruising down the river was seeing all the other boats cruising along as well. Many were lit up and elaborately decorated. Landon was thrilled when a lit-up pirate ship (pictured above) came sailing by, and we also saw big paddle wheel boats and other lit up boats. Yay for boats!

Landon spent much of the cruise on dad's shoulders

The Oriental Pearl all lit up!

The Bund from far away

In all, the cruise lasted about an hour and covered from the southern end of the Bund up to where the city lights stopped before it turned around. I felt like it was a great length to admire the lights and keep the attention of little ones. On the boat, there were inside, air conditioned areas to sit and rest at tables, and the top sight-seeing outdoor deck from which we took most of the pictures. Our boat was not very crowded, so we claimed a table and also spent some time up top admiring the views. We felt it was a great way to see more of the beautiful Shanghai skyline without having to walk around! Cruising at night is a must to see all of the city lights and enjoy cooler temperatures. 

The Bund closer up